


To The Victor Go The Spoils

by GotTheSilver



Category: Suits (TV)
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-05
Updated: 2012-01-05
Packaged: 2017-10-28 23:10:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/313208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GotTheSilver/pseuds/GotTheSilver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dana flies home.  Set after 1.07.</p><p><i>Dana remembers seeing Harvey for the first time. The image wasn't all put together then. Hair still clinging to youthful blond waves, just starting to darken. Smug smile even though she got better marks than him. She knew she should hate him, everything seemed to come so easy for him.  Then he turned his smile on her and she couldn't help but smile back.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	To The Victor Go The Spoils

Steve wasn't Harvey. He didn't turn her world upside down with a single look. He didn't challenge her on every word she said. Steve wasn't Harvey, but he knew her like Harvey. Knew that there was a reason she hadn't said yes to him, and knew that she never would unless that reason was out of her life.

Dana remembers seeing Harvey for the first time. The image wasn't all put together then. Hair still clinging to youthful blond waves, just starting to darken. Smug smile even though she got better marks than him. She knew she should hate him, everything seemed to come so easy for him. Then he turned his smile on her and she couldn't help but smile back.

She's a realist. She'd never believed in the fairytale. Dana wasn't ever going to compromise what she wanted out of life for anyone and she knew Harvey was exactly the same. There was never going to be a white picket fence, a dog and kids in their future. Not together. _(but sometimes, afterwards, when it was peaceful and comfortable and quiet, she thought...maybe)_.

Dana didn't expect him to realise so quickly what she'd done to screw him over. She played him too hard, her mistake for forgetting how easily he can read her. Left quickly because if he pushed, he'd find out how she really screwed him and he might never forgive that. _(“the great Harvey Specter has morals?” a quirk of the eyebrow, a grin from him “every great man has morals, Scotty”)_. She kept her distance from Harvey in the later negotiations because she didn't want him to guess. Whatever she'd done, she owed it to Harvey to tell him before he figured it out.

It would be simple to say that her relationship with Harvey was only about sex. The sex _(“if you don't shut up, we'll get caught” “can't have perfect student Scotty caught fucking in the library, can we?”)_ was always good. That was the easy part of their relationship, the part that always worked. Everything else was complicated. Easy, when they were younger, when they _(she)_ had less to lose. Then, as they got older, expectations changed.

The men she met in London were serious, ready for adult relationships in a way she hadn't been prepared for. Dana was only serious about work. Most of the men she met revealed their plans after a few dates and the lip service they paid to working women bored her quickly. Bars provided what she needed, someone good looking and eager enough for her to work off a hard week, a tough case. No more than that. _(just like Harvey taught her)_.

Then there was Steve. Sweet, uncomplicated Steve, who never spoke about her giving up work, who never suggested her place was at home, not in a courtroom. Steve, who challenged her just enough to make her think, but not enough so she was on the defensive. Steve, who made her laugh in spite of herself. Steve, who told her he loved her without reservation.

She owes it to Harvey to do this honestly. They both deserve a clean break from this and she's the one who can make it happen. _(“what would you like me to say?” he says and anything he says would be what he knows she wants to hear, “nothing”)_. In the end it's not the cleanest break they could've got, but it fits what they had. What it was and what it could never be.

Dana's on the plane home before she realises she still has Harvey's shirt in her bag. When she gets home, she'll hide it in the box with her Harvard relics and pretend it's a long gone part of her past. She'll call Steve from the office, tell him her answer. There will be a party, intimate and sophisticated with friends they've both made. The wedding will be next spring. She'll look at Steve, say her vows, pledge her love and _(“don't you ever think of the future, Harvey?” “sure, I'll be insanely successful, make Jessica a lot of money and have the whole of New York City to play with” “you think that's all you'll need?” “what else is there?”)_ she won't ever look back.


End file.
